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The Nintendo DSi Games Console

It's here - the next generation handheld games console from Nintendo, the DSi. Announced on October 2nd 2008 as the successor to the hugely popular DS Lite, the DSi games console has taken Japan by storm, selling more in a week than the Wii, PS3 and XBox 360 put together, and is now available in the UK!

So, how is the DS DSi different to the DS Lite? Nintendo had an almost impossible challenge, to make the DS smaller and lighter but with a bigger screen, and the way they've solved it is by losing the slot for GameBoy Advance software - this will be unpopular with some but that's the decision. The DSi is around 12% (2.6mm) thinner than the DS Lite and the LCD screen size has increased from 3 inches to 3.25 inches. The DSi has 2 VGA 0.3 megapixel cameras, one next to the microphone on the inside and one on the outside. There are 2 LCD screens on the DSi, the top one is a regular screen and the bottom one is touch screen, enabling editing of images and adjustment of audio playback etc, and the DSi also features an SD card slot for transferring images. All existing DS flash cards are compatible with the DSi, and the DSi also has 256MB of internal flash memory.

The DSi games console has improved speakers compared to the DS Lite, and the power switch (on the DS Lite) has been replaced with a power button, as the original DS had, now found by the bottom left hand corner of the touch screen. Unlike previous versions of the DS the DSi has upgradable firmware, and much will be made of the DSi browser, available for free download. You can read the main points from user's DSi reviews here.

Nintendo DSi Key Features

In summary, the key features of the Nintendo DSi games console;

12% slimmer than the DS Lite

2 x 3.25 inch LCD screens, one of them touch screen

0.3 megapixel VGA camera on the outside

0.3 megapixel VGA camera and microphone on the inside

SD memory card slot but no GameBoy Advance slot

256MB of internal flash memory

Works with DS and DS Lite flash cards

DSi browser available as free download

Improved speakers

Upgradable firmware

The Nintendo DSi was originally released in two colours, Matte Black and Matte White, but since October 2009 the UK has had 5 colour choices following the release of the DSi Red and the DSi Blue - two different shades, Metallic Blue and Light Blue. It is not yet known which other colours it will be available in, but it would be surprising if a DSi Pink is not produced at some point - watch this space.

The DSi games console was released in the UK on April 3rd 2009 and in the USA will probably be more like Summer 2009, as DS Lite sales are still very strong in the US. You can buy DSi consoles now - check out the prices at all the major UK retailers above.

The number of actual DSi games is still fairly limited but there are plenty of great DS games available, from old favourites to new releases.